HINGHAM – To hear four of the senior bulwarks of the Hingham High boys lacrosse team tell it, their Saturday matchup with Medfield for the Division 2 state title will not be about revenge as much as it will be about completing their competitive journey.

Over the previous four seasons, the Harbormen lost twice in the sectional final and twice in the semis. One game was decided by two goals; the others went to overtime, double-OT and triple-OT.

Medfield got them twice – in last year’s sectional title game (11-10 in OT) and in the 2010 final (8-7 in two extra periods).

Hingham has won state championships before, in 2001 and 2002, and even way back in 1986 when the sport was in its formative stages and not the widespread mania it is today. The Harbormen have been knocking on the door lately, and for this quartet of senior stars, Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. showdown with Medfield (22-2) at Boston University will be their last chance to cash in before they suit up for different teams next spring.

Senior defender Jackson Ullrich is headed to University of Pennsylvania; midfielder Caleb Brodie is going to Maryland; attack Matt Giarrusso is bound for Union College; and midfielder Patrick Burke is headed to prep school at Avon Old Farms.

“Revenge over Medfield, I suppose, would be sweet,” said Ullrich, “but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter who we play – they’re just in our way.”

“I like the way Jack put it,” Burke agreed. “We just want to try to take care of business and win a state championship, and not get too caught up in getting even with them.”

Like all high school teams, the Harbormen of 2014 are not the same squad as last year’s group. One obvious factor is that this year’s team is getting some important minutes from youngsters in key spots – freshman attack Marc O’Rourke, sophomore attack Jake Brodie, and junior goalkeeper Jack Santilli.

“This year we definitely have some younger kids filling key roles, and we’ve tried to use our senior leadership to help them fit in,” said Ullrich. “I think it took a while, but by the end of the season we were really meshing together very well.”

Hingham started the season 4-2 and was just 7-5 after a blowout loss to Duxbury on May 1. The Harbormen haven’t lost since, winning 12 in a row.

“I believe part of the reason we got off to a slow start was all the young kids trying to fit in,” Caleb Brodie said. “Once we all started to gel, it all came together.”

Page 2 of 2 - “We try to show leadership in different ways,” noted Giarrusso. “If one of the kids screws up we’re the first to let him know about it. But then when they do something good, we make sure we also encourage and support them.

“And, I think if one of the younger guys makes a mistake in a big game, we do not get on them, because we know they are playing in some big games for the first time and they need our support even more.”

Said Burke: “In close games like we’ve had in the postseason, anyone can get the goal that makes the difference. Just like senior Matt Rosso got the game-winner for us the other day in the state semifinal, any one of the players on this team could get it done tomorrow, so you want to support and encourage everybody.”

With the full knowledge that Saturday is their last game together, win or lose, the Hingham seniors want to be able to revel in winning that final trophy.

“We’ve made a deep run every year,” said Ullrich. “But to go all the way in senior year, with kids you’ve played with since grade school? It doesn’t get any better than that. Coach said that was our goal from the first day of practice this year, and we’ve never lost sight of that.”

“Everybody has kept working hard,” coach John Todd pointed out. “But they’ve all worked hard since youth lacrosse so many years ago, put time in outside the game to become better athletes, and worked to develop their skills. These games they’re playing now could be the highest level many of them ever play, so we’ve made sure they’re putting in the time, and putting it in seriously, to achieve as much as they can.”

Todd said his senior class has “taken us on a great journey, and really raised the bar for Hingham lacrosse.”

He also credited the town’s youth program, run by Brian Hlidek, for creating a talent pipeline.

“Saturday’s goal is to play and win,” Todd added. “Playing Medfield again might be a little more motivation, but the fact that we keep coming up against them in games like this says volumes about their program and its quality. It has become a great game, a great matchup, but our thoughts are to reach our next goal, to play our best game.

“We just want to get that extra goal we need, and it doesn’t really matter if it is Medfield we play. We want to complete our journey.”